Fiction Addict

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Publisher: Multnomah Books

Publication Date: Feb 2009

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

In the second book of Chuck Black’s Knights of Arrethtrae series, we meet Sir Bentley. He’s a young man with a passion for life and a compassionate heart for others.

Sir Bentley’s tale starts from the gripping perspective of a young man who has been raised to kill and destroy those who serve the King and his Son. His father lived through the death of the great imposter (the Son of the King) and has definite feelings about those who follow him. When Sir Bentley gets into a life and death situation the very men that he was sent to kill step up and defend him. This is when he knows that the life he’s been leading is wrong and he wants to change. In a dramatic twist, he becomes a follower of the prince and, in doing so, becomes an enemy of everything that his father has taught him.

He leaves his family’s fortune to follow the path that the Prince has set before him and soon becomes an invaluable help in a small farming community that’s being run by a tyrant. He learns to farm and sees firsthand how difficult the lives of these simple people are. When he comes before the ruler of the land, he does his best to try and change things for the people. He also meets a beautiful maiden whose heart seems as cold as ice. Is it?

Sir Bentley learns much in this book about appearances, wisdom and loyalty. Closely mirroring the life of Joseph, Bentley shows a brilliant example of what we, as Christians, should be when looking at the suffering around us.

Once again as we dive into Black’s world, we are transported with adventure, beautiful descriptions and most of all, fantastic life lessons. The characters we meet in this book are young, brave and smart, but faced with a lot of the same issues that we deal with today. Appearance, kindness, wisdom…these are lessons that all of us can benefit from as we go through each day. Black’s creation of this universe to share these lessons is spot on, brilliant and relevant.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Political Thriller

Publisher: Grand Central

Release Date: November 2008

Reviewed by Josh Olds

Divine Justice begins right where Stone Cold concludes. Oliver Stone, aka former Triple Six assassin John Carr, has just killed a prominent senator and the US director of intelligence. Two men, former friends, who had destroyed his life and family. Now he’s on the run and with every intelligence agency wanting him dead, the Camel Club might not be able to help.

Through some turn of events, Stone ends up in the hick mining town of Divine, Virginia. He’s holed up way too close to DC for comfort, but he has little choice. As police forces disperse to find Carr, General Macklin Hayes has his own personal reasons for wanting Stone dead. Stone will have to deal with both the forces after him as well as the strange happenings in Divine. Stone had been in tough spots before, but this might be one of the toughest yet.

Divine Justice concludes the three-part story arc begun in The Collectors. While the titular first book in the Camel Club series and the fifth and most recent installment, Hell’s Corner, tell pretty much standalone stories, books two through four are made of individual stories that weave into an overarching epic. While I can’t be sure, it appears almost certain that Baldacci, noting the success of The Camel Club, plotted out The Collectors, Stone Cold, and Divine Justice around the same time.

Having concentrated on big-city goings on in previous novels, Divine Justice gives us a taste of law and politics in small town life. But of course Divine isn’t a normal city. Baldacci plays the two aspects of the story well, drawing out the tension in both the city of Divine as well as abroad as various forces—the Camel Club included—try to track down Oliver Stone. Baldacci is able to introduce some poignant social and political commentary in areas as diverse as drug use, the prison system, and the mining industry. It all weaves seamlessly together to create a top-notch thriller.

Undoubtedly, Baldacci fans will be clamoring for more Camel Club novels. But I for one think that Oliver Stone has worked long and hard. I’d like to see Baldacci give us more insight on Stone’s early years as John Carr. But whatever he writes, Baldacci can be sure that I’ll be reading it. His expertise in penning the Camel Club saga has earned him that.

Book purchased by reviewer.

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Publisher: Multnomah Books

Publication Dates: June 2008

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

A long time ago there was a Kingdom that had lost its way. The King, able to see his people and see what they were doing, decided to send his son to the Kingdom to bring them the message of his love to his people. The people in the kingdom didn’t recognize the son. They believed that he was an imposter and they killed him. You would think that the story would end there, but the King, who was mighty in power, raised his son from the dead and promised that he would send his son once again in the future to redeem his people. Sound familiar? Indeed. This is the story of the Knights of Arrethtrae.

Pledged to the King and his Son, they travel the land, spreading the good news of his word and battling the evil forces who are determined to destroy all the King holds dear.  Each of the six books in Chuck Black’s series resounds with beautiful allegorical tales that are given new life and breath in the setting of a kingdom with knights and fair maiden poised in battle. And along with each tale is the chance to learn a valuable lesson about life as a member of the King’s family.

Sir Kendrick’s tale comes first in the series and he must take under his wing a young and impetuous new knight, Sir Duncan. The two take off on a mission to investigate Lord Ra and his mysterious festivals where young men and women disappear from neighboring villages.  When Sir Duncan disappears, Kendrick must try to save him. In order to do this, he tries to enlist the aid of a mysterious warrior that he meets not far from Ra’s castle. With this warrior, he learns the truth of Ra’s rise and what he does with the young people who stay with him. But more than that, he also must confront some of his own agonies and hurts from the past.

Kendrick’s battle with his own history, loyalty and faith is an epic one and is bound to enrapture readers with its climactic and stunning ending. This book teaches valuable lessons across the board and is packed with scriptural lessons that anyone of any age can use in their lives.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Political Thriller

Publisher: Grand Central

Release Date: November 2007

Reviewed by Josh Olds

The Camel Club saga continues in fine form, reaching a crescendo in this third book. If the previous books weren’t so well written, I’d have said that they were just intended as preludes to Stone Cold. After two adventures and a lot of shadowy hinting and some outright revelations, David Baldacci finally gives us a story that concentrates on the life and history of Oliver Stone. And the result is a truly great novel filled with twists and turns that concludes in stunning fashion.

Stone’s past as a Triple Six government assassin has come back to haunt him more than once. But this time might be most harrowing. Somebody is killing former Triple Sixes and Stone just might be next. Stone Cold deals with Stone’s past with intelligence czar Carter Gray and Senator Roger Simpson, tying their history back to the Cold War era and Stone’s last assignment as a Triple Six. It was after that assignment he’d called it quits. And now because of that assignment somebody is trying to kill him.

Meanwhile, Harry Finn is a standup guy. Loves his wife, takes care of his kids, visits his mom in the nursing home. Real family fan with a great government job. What his family doesn’t know is that his job for the government is to find holes in security and exploit it—whether it’s getting through airports, or planting a bomb in the Capitol—all in the name of trying to keep the country safe and security on their toes. But even his employer doesn’t know he’s moonlighting as an assassin whose killing former spies for his own personal reasons.

A third storyline rages as Annabelle Conroy picks up where we left her in The Collectors—on the run from the casino king Jerry Bagger. She conned $40 million from the guy who killed her mother, and now he was on her trail looking to do the same to her. Along the way Annabelle mends some relationships and realizes just how much she can count on her newfound friends at the Camel Club.

Let me just come right out and say it. Stone Cold is an excellent novel. The storylines are tremendous and the themes are compelling. The character of Harry Finn, who can compartmentalize his job as a killer with his family life, is absolutely fascinating and raises a lot of questions about the human psyche. Finn’s back story raises even more important issues such as the authority of the government and the trouble of an “ends justifies means” philosophy. Gray and Simpson’s stories portray the power and prominence—and yet eventual downfall—of the absolutely heartless. Interspersed throughout, Baldacci makes little quips on various political issues, providing some tongue-in-cheek cynicism about our oh-so-truthful government.

Stone Cold is Baldacci at the height of his game. Other novels of his have had the same great level of technical precision and told great stories, but this novel drives to the heart of the matter and raises some very important questions that will linger long after the book is closed. Simply put, one of the best political thrillers I’ve read.

Book purchased by reviewer.

Genre: Literary

Publisher: Bellevue Literary Press

Released: January 2009

Reviewed by Jonathan Schindler

It has been two weeks since I finished the Pulitzer Prize–winning Tinkers by Paul Harding, and I’m still not quite sure what to say about it. I suppose I’ll start with what I know to say and move on from there: Tinkers is a beautiful and poignant book with stunning language and well-defined scenes. The book is a gift, and readers should look forward to Harding’s future efforts.

Now I’ll try to explain that view, which is the hard part. Tinkers begins with, “George Washington Crosby began to hallucinate eight days before he died.” From there, the book follows a disjointed path through Crosby’s past and present as he remembers his father and sees his family gathered around his death bed.

I’ve mentioned before that I think the best fiction is seamless, that is, that it makes you feel something but the reason is somewhere offstage. A good writer doesn’t need to be heavy-handed. This seamlessness is the opposite of some TV shows or commercials that make you feel something, but you feel manipulated afterward. Tinkers is a wonderful example of this kind of seamlessness. The book has a wintry air, with death always looming throughout the book, but it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why I felt so affected by the book or when I started to care about the characters.

And care I did. Harding has crafted a family of characters that are simple, believable, and utterly human. These are not the characters who sally forth and perform great deeds. They are characters of the home, and they have a simple elegance about them. They do not make epic speeches, and Harding’s style is terse; it is often what isn’t said—filling in the gaps—that allows the reader to understand and empathize with the characters. Tinkers is a book that operates in the everyday life of real human beings and finds beauty in their experiences.

Tinkers is a book of scenes, not really of plot. Crosby experiences snapshots of his life as a fixer of clocks and of his father’s life as a peddler, and the connections between them are not always clear. It took me a while to become accustomed to this method of storytelling, especially when I was enjoying one character’s thread and pulled jarringly to another’s. As the book went on, however, I was just grateful to experience the scenes at all. Harding’s gift, I think, lies in his powerful descriptions. There isn’t much to tie together the scenes at first glance (except Crosby’s imminent death), but the scenes themselves glisten like the snowy atmosphere. Each one is a jewel.

I’ll give one example. My favorite scene involves George’s father, Howard, and a strange hermit who is rumored to have been a schoolmate of Nathaniel Hawthorne. He lives on his own in the woods, and most people never see him, but once a year, after the snow has melted, he comes to Howard to replenish his store of goods that was exhausted in the long winter, mostly tobacco. The hermit has no money, so he normally trades some useless or smelly animal pelt or carving for the goods, but Howard graciously accepts such offerings and presumably pays for the goods out of his earnings. On one occasion, though, the hermit is in pain from a toothache, and Howard helps him pull the tooth. He never sees the hermit again, but he finds on his doorstep a first edition of The Scarlet Letter, pages still uncut, inscribed to the hermit by Hawthorne.

Tinkers is full of scenes like this (and much better described, too). They (and the characters that occupy them) carry the book. The plot may seem meandering, but it isn’t aimless. And it makes sense: many times as we reflect on our own lives, we remember scenes and not necessarily the metanarrative that gives them meaning. That being said, readers who have little patience for a book without a strong overarching plot may want to look elsewhere for their next read. But if you like thoughtful, beautiful prose and don’t mind an examination of the everyday experiences of normal human lives, Tinkers may be the book for you.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Genre: Political Thriller

Publisher: Grand Central

Release Date: October 2006

Reviewed by Josh Olds

David Baldacci followed up his 2005 release The Camel Club with the top-notch sequel The Collectors. Set shortly after the event of The Camel Club, this novel puts Oliver Stone back into action and calls in a few new characters as well. One of the Camel Club’s members, Caleb Shaw, is a librarian in the rare books division of the Library of Congress. One day, while making his rounds, he discovers his boss dead on the floor. While there’s no overt evidence of foul play, Stone isn’t so sure. With a little digging they discover a connection to the more-prominent murder of the week—the assassination of the Speaker of the House.

In a second storyline, Annabelle Conroy is attempting to pull off one of the greatest cons of all time. She’s gathered her team and made her hits, and she’s got her eye set on swindling Atlantic City’s cruelest casino connoisseur Jerry Bagger of a lot of money. She and Bagger have some history, none of it pleasant, and one small mistake could put Annabelle and her team in body bags.

Midway through the opposing storylines violently collide in a shocking twist. But Stone is going to need Conroy’s help if he’s going to unravel the mystery and get out alive. In the end, it’s a frantic journey of multiple storylines, each crafted around a similar theme. There’s something to collect, and someone may just have to die for it.

The details about the books are perhaps what fascinate me the most about this novel. It’s trivial to be sure, but a novel with library scenes and discussions of rare books brings out the bibliophile in me. Probably for most people, the most intriguing part is going to the story of Annabelle Conroy. Baldacci here crafts a character with a great back story and spends a lot of time developing the character in The Collectors. At first, I actually thought too much time was spent on that storyline until discovering that she becomes a major character in the future Camel Club adventures, especially in the third installment, Stone Cold. Bearing that in mind, it’s a testament to Baldacci’s foresight. Baldacci portrays the con world expertly—or at least I suppose he does, and he gives me no reason to doubt him.

But as always, the core of novel is crafted around a political aspect, and Baldacci dives deep into the espionage game in this novel, as well as reveals even more about Oliver Stone’s past. Building on the foundation of The Camel Club, Baldacci has written a great sequel in The Collectors. Perhaps even greater, the story ends on a semi-cliffhanger, with Conroy’s story still unresolved. The result is a tantalizing end that gets the reader salivating for more.

Book purchased by reviewer.

Genre: Literary, Apocalyptic

Publisher: Random House

Released: July 2010

Reviewed by Jonathan Schindler

America’s financial system has collapsed, the country is on the brink of becoming a dictatorship, and High Net Worth Individuals are able to live forever—if the technology advances as it should, that is. The world is at war, consolidated corporations are scrapping over the last pieces of American civilization, and a person’s credit score can cause deportation. And in the midst of all of this, a love story develops between Post Human Services geek Lenny Abramov and spendthrift drifter Eunice Park.

Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart is set in a near-future version of New York, where every person is plugged into their äppäräts, texts are scanned, books are smelly artifacts of the past, and everyone is always connected and streaming someone else. What makes Gary Shteyngart’s vision of the future so engaging—and so terrifying—is how believable it is.

The story is narrated through the diaries of Lenny Abramov and the GlobalTeens (a far more comprehensive and less private version of Facebook) account of Eunice Park. Lenny is nearing his fortieth birthday; Eunice is in her twenties. The way they experience the world—Lenny almost an outsider, Eunice completely immersed—helps the reader to navigate the strange events that must have occurred to bring the United States from the present into this dismal future. Shteyngart is a great writer, and he masterfully creates a new world for the reader without being heavy-handed or intrusive. The characters tell their story in a believable manner, and the details are slowly revealed to the reader as the story unfolds.

I mentioned that the book takes place in the “dismal future,” but it is to Shteyngart’s credit that the book does not become bogged down with ominous predictions. The book is, as its title suggests, primarily a love story, even if it is a love story gone awry (that is, super sad). The dark future is the setting, but the characters carry the story. The book does not feel like an excuse to give the author’s vision of the future, the characters and plot an afterthought to serve these greater ideas. Rather, Super Sad True Love Story feels like a good story first, its characters well-defined, its setting incidental. The plot, characters, and setting work well together, forming a cohesive unit that is surprisingly light.

One thing that provides the levity is the main narrator’s (Lenny’s) voice. He is an optimist and seems undaunted by the new ways of the world. He owns an old version of the äppärät (“What is this, an iPhone?”), his prized possessions are his books, and he still keeps a private diary despite the world’s demand for full exposure (literally and figuratively). He thus represents enough of what we’re used to that becoming accustomed to the story’s setting is a gradual revelation (as opposed to, say, A Clockwork Orange, which works in a different way by completely disorienting the reader). The reader feels as though Lenny is discovering this brave new world too, and that makes the reading experience more immersive and less like a high school homework assignment.

The book is well-written, but readers should be advised: Shteyngart’s vision of the future has, like the source material in the present, a good deal of sex and profanity. The future, according to Shteyngart, is a time when women are degraded to sex-object status even more than in the present, and while these details are key to creating the atmosphere of the story and rarely seem gratuitous, sensitive readers may want to pass on the book.

But for readers who can stomach those details and who like well-written, intelligent fiction; believable predictions about the future; commentary on the way technology mediates our relationships; or a good love story, Super Sad True Love Story is sure to please. I can’t be certain of this, but I predict it is a book that will stay with me long after having read it, and that is not a bad thing.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Genre: Mystery, Comedy, Romance

Publisher: Touchstone

Publication Dates: August 2010

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

I thought I was the only person in the world who had really bad days at work. I’ve dealt with potty training, broken down vehicles, crying kids in the background of important conference calls…but those were all nothing compared to Lilly Hawkins and her bad day at work. You see, hers involved a lot of murder, death, beating, extortion, frame ups and gang warfare. And that was in like ten minutes. (Okay well maybe not, but it does seem that way for a while!)

Lilly is a photojournalist who, for some reason, has been having a lot of mess ups at work lately. Though they’re minor things, they’re still enough to be annoying to her and for her co-workers to start choosing other people for their teams. All of the hard work she’s put in over the past years has begun to crumble and it’s starting to eat away at her. So when she gets the chance at a hot breaking news story, she jumps at it. Knowing that this is likely a last chance at redemption for her job, she sneaks around the police tape and gets right into the crime scene. Unfortunately, she isn’t able to get much footage, but what she does get is golden.

When she arrives back at the station, she’s proud of what she’s gotten until they put the tape in the machine and everything is black. After her string of mistakes in the recent past, everyone believes that she’s accidentally made a rookie mistake that wouldn’t allow her to record. She even wonders how it’s possible that something like this happens. And then she gets home, gets beat up, threatened, nearly killed, followed, beat up again and…yeah. The day goes downhill from there.

An engaging mystery with interesting characters, A Bad Day’s Work is a fun read with twists and turns that will keep you guessing. Lilly Hawkins is funny, interesting, and someone that would totally fit into my circle of friends. The characters that populate the story are quirky and weird and exactly the sort of off the wall people that you meet every day. At one point I did wonder if she knew anyone who was really ‘normal’ but then again, normal is a relative concept. And in the television news industry, there might just be more weird than normal.

The story was fast paced (sometimes mind bogglingly so) and fun enough to keep me delightfully entertained the entire time I was reading. No downtime in Lilly Hawkins life and no slow times in this story. This was a fun read for a weekend. I enjoyed the adventure and the mystery and would recommend it for anyone who loves a fun, light mystery.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Political Thriller

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Release Date: October 2005

Reviewed by Josh Olds

Oliver Stone and the Camel Club are back in a brand new adventure called Hell’s Corner. To celebrate the return of NYT bestselling author David Baldacci’s most infamous character, Fiction Addict is taking a blast into the past and reviewing the Camel Club’s previous adventures.

It all started with The Camel Club. Oliver Stone was nobody more than a grizzled cemetery caretaker who spent his evenings quietly protesting across from the White House with his sign that simply read I WANT THE TRUTH. By night he’s also the de facto leader of The Camel Club, a ragtag group of conspiracy theorists dedicated to uncovering the truth that Washington tends to hide. When they witness a body being dumped into the Potomac during one of their nighttime meetings, they stumble upon a conspiracy more fact than theory.

As the political suspense thickens, the plot begins to come together. In the wake of a 9/11 world, all the government intelligence operations have been collected under the head of an intelligence czar, Carter Gray. Meanwhile, Muslim resistance is growing stronger and some will stop at nothing to trigger an event that makes 9/11 seem like child’s play. And least that’s what it seems.

The Camel Club find themselves thrown into the fray, working with Secret Service agent Alex Ford to help uncover the mystery. The little murder they witnessed turns out to be the beginning of so much more. And along the way we learn just who Oliver Stone really is.

Always politically savvy, Baldacci writes with precision and clarity when it comes to the political aspects of the novel. His introduction to how the Camel Club came to be might be a bit weak. Perhaps to rectify this, Baldacci should consider writing a prequel series based on Oliver Stone’s background as portrayed through the Camel Club books. I, for one, would love that.

While it’s a solid story and well-done, The Camel Club is just the beginning, as in my opinion, the books just keep getting better and better. With this novel, there were a few side plots I’d like to have seen fleshed out more and Baldacci has one character from this novel that still seems to end in a loose thread.

In terms of the meta-narrative, having now read all the Camel Club books, I have to say that I appreciate this first book more now in retrospect than after having just read The Camel Club as a standalone. It’s a good book, but the following novels and the tie-ins that Baldacci expertly crafts is what makes this a truly great book. It’s like a roller-coaster ride, but The Camel Club is just the beginning, you’ve just been strapped in.

Book purchased by reviewer.

Genre: Suspense

Publisher: Waterbrook Press

Publication Date: October 2010

Reviewed by Kaci Hill

Tandem picks up shortly after the end of Thirsty, with characters in the same town still dealing with the fallout from Thirsty. Months events of Thirsty, Tracey Batemen’s book Tandem reenters Abbey Hills, Missouri, this time following the parallel plots of Lauryn McBride, who is with the auction house in charge of the late Markus Chisom, and Amede Dastillion, whose interest in Abbey Hills and Markus is tied to a history she’d rather not disclose.  Amede’s interests are bound up in finding her long-lost sister, and Lauryn’s found more questions than answers, as well as a new trail of mutilated carcasses.

Bateman maintains the same voice and tenor as she did in Thirsty—keeping true to her writer’s voice: A first person flashback, first person, present, third person from other key figures. It was a good “Tracey Bateman rhythm” if you will.

Moreover, I was surprised to find myself empathetic toward one particular vampire, especially after Thirsty (she’s completely sympathetic, I think, if you’re reading out of order).  Bateman has succeeded in building a world where vampires have a choice in how they live. They can be good, evil, or somewhere in between—very human, if you will, even empathetic. In Bateman’s world, even the monsters have a shot at redemption.

Plot-wise, Mrs. Bateman threw in several curves I didn’t see coming—despite that, looking back, the hints were there. I enjoyed the parallel stories of Lauryn and Amede, the recurring characters, and the rich history of each of them. Bateman has a lovely way of bringing the past back to the surface to be dealt with—and using the destructive addiction vampires have for blood to paint a portrait of human addictions, hidden demons, and the monsters lurking behind the door.

One piece of advice: If you’re getting into Bateman for the first time, the opening chapters might be a little confusing until the point of view characters are identified. But each has a unique enough personality that once the rhythm of the story sets in, it’s easy to tell.

I found Tandem equally as enjoyable as its predecessor, and am looking forward to book three.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Chick Lit

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Publication Date:  August 2010

Reviewed by Jen Roman

New Yorker Sasha Silver works on Wall Street for a company that bought out her company.  She is a bright, resourceful woman with a solid reputation, but is largely ignored in her field because she is a woman.  Grigsby Somerset is married to Blake, who is a sleazy Wall Street banker.  Grigsby’s “job” in life is to shop, lunch, and get her children into the best private schools possible.  Mimi Cutter spends her time going to charity events, spending money, and figuring out ways to best her husband in their costly and petty divorce.  Renee Parker, a young, intelligent, reliable African-American in a Caucasian male world, is the only one who is even slightly grounded in this tale.  She is the new assistant to Blake Somerset and somehow manages to put up with his difficult behavior.  She also overhears his illegal business plans, which later come back to haunt him.

From reading the cover and the descriptions of the book, one would think this is an “insider” look at how society people get their comeuppances, and to an extent, that is true.  One has no idea, however, just how shallow these people are.  For some, their worst nightmare is being seen pawning an item.  For others, it is not getting one’s child into the “right” prep school.  Nobody except Renee shows good judgment, and even then, there are times when she gets caught up in the snobbery and petty lifestyle in which so many of her peers live and even enjoy.  At the end of the story a scorned wife seeks revenge at her husband, but it’s still hard to feel any satisfaction or joy for her.  She’s lived such a shallow, spoiled life that any gains or breaks she receives just don’t seem justified.  Why Renee would help such a person is baffling.

The Recessionistas shows how the “other half” lives, and it is in excess.  Those opposed to or upset by extreme waste of money would be disgusted.  There is plenty of adultery throughout the story, and while there aren’t detailed sex scenes, there are some very blatant sexual descriptions.  In addition, there are many uses of profanity, including the “F” word.  At times the use of the “F” word is so common that it is hard to get through the story.

This book was described to be along the lines of the “Nanny Diaries” or “The Devil Wears Prada,” meaning a fictionalized tell-all of how the upper crust lives.  Instead, it is just excess after excess.  The characters are shallow and difficult to like, so the story doesn’t flow well.  It was even difficult to finish.  Readers looking for entertainment and a story should not count on this book to provide them.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Bestselling novelist Andrew Klavan joins us to talk about his two new releases: The Truth of the Matter (Book 3 of The Homelanders series) and The Identity Man. More about Andrew:

Andrew Klavan has been nominated for the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Allan Poe Award five times and won twice. He is the author of a dozen previous novels, including such internationally best-selling crime novels as True Crime, filmed by Clint Eastwood, and Don’t Say A Word, starring Michael Douglas. His latest novel for adults is the thriller The Identity Man (2010).  The Last Thing I Remember (May 2009) was the best-selling debut to Klavan’s new Homelanders series for young adults and garnered much media attention. It’s follow-up The Long Way Home was equally well received and has become a featured read in many high schools across the USA.

As a screenwriter, Klavan adapted Simon Brett’s novel A Shock to the System for the film starring Michael Caine. Klavan also wrote the script for the 2008 horror film “One Missed Call,” starring Ed Burns.

Klavan’s journalism has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the LA Times, and elsewhere. He is a contributing editor to the Manhattan Institute think tank’s City Journal, where he published a trilogy of stories on Hollywood’s mistreatment of the war on terror, concluding with a report on Klavan’s own trip into the Afghanistan war zone, “Five Days at the End of the World.”

Klavan makes frequent personal and media appearances and has been a guest on Glenn Beck’s television program, Fox and Friends, The Sean Hannity television program, The Laura Ingraham radio show, Mike Gallagher’s radio show, The Fred Thompson show and dozens of others.

Born in New York City, Klavan grew up in Long Island and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley. While at Berkeley, he picked up a hitchhiker named Ellen Flanagan, who became Mrs. Klavan in 1980. Before becoming a full-time novelist, Klavan held a number of jobs. He worked as a radio reporter in Berkeley, where he covered the Patty Hearst kidnapping. He covered small town crime and politics for a newspaper in upstate New York. He later returned to New York City, where he worked as a reader for Columbia Pictures and as a radio newswriter for WOR Radio and the ABC Radio Network. Klavan and his wife later lived in London for several years. They returned to the U.S. in 1999 and now live in Southern California. They have two grown children, Faith and Spencer.

This interview is also available on iTunes.

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Genre: Romance

Publisher: Zondervan

Publication Date: October 2010

Reviewed by Elizabeth Olmedo

Holden Harris is different. He looks normal, but he is withdrawn and only speaks through flashcards. Holden is autistic. His classmates don’t understand him and consequently bully him. When popular Ella Reynolds spots him watching one of the rehearsals for the school musical, she requests permission for him to sit in on their practices. As their friendship grows, Ella learns that Holden is indeed freer than his seemingly “perfect” peers.

Through their unlikely friendship, Holden learns to interact more with those around him, culminating in the breakthrough no one ever thought possible. With each victory, people catch a glimpse of the beautiful soul inside the imperfect shell.

Karen Kingsbury delivers yet another heartwarming story in Unlocked. Though I’ve never interacted with autistic people, Holden seemed very believable. The young man at the end is very different from the forlorn teenager we meet at the beginning, but the changes occur so subtly they creep up on the reader unaware.

Holden’s pure faith in God and love for others — even those who bully him — blessed me greatly. He is such a refreshing character in a world where forgiveness is sparse. Kingsbury tackles issues very real issues such as bullying and the fatal effects it can have.  I found this especially poignant because as a teacher I see bullying every day among my students. In the end, I don’t want to look back like the drama teacher and wonder if I could have done more.

Unlocked is only for readers willing to be challenged. I strongly recommend keeping a box of tissues nearby.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Drama

Publisher: Grand Central

Publication Date:  August 2010

Reviewed by Jen Roman

Robert Vishniak is a young man trying to create a better life for himself than his parents have.  He is a young teen in the 1950s, living in Philadelphia.  His academic abilities get him into a good school and from there he manages to get into Tufts, where he meets his closeted roommate, Tracey.  He befriends several wealthy students and always feels like an outsider because he comes from very humble beginnings.  Throughout the story, we follow Robert as he matures, graduates law school, gets married, and buries his parents.  Intertwined with this are Tracey’s experiences in life, as the two meet up and lose touch a couple of times throughout the story.

Rich Boy is told in an honest manner through Robert’s interesting perspective.  He is lucky that in addition to being intelligent and hard-working, he has a certain something that draws women to him.  The reader learns how it feels to be the outsider in regards to class and wealth.  Somehow Robert manages to break through that invisible barrier to be friends with wealthy people, and he ends up marrying a very wealthy socialite.  All of his insecurities, worries, and fears are projected to the reader and while he doesn’t always do the right thing, it’s easy to see why he makes the choices he does.

Rich Boy deals with many adult themes, and the reader should be aware of that.  Robert finds his girlfriend after she hangs herself.  While not a gruesome scene in and of itself, it is still disturbing.  There are a few curse words, but they are sprinkled throughout the story.  For those opposed to a gay lifestyle, readers should be aware that there are a couple of gay characters, although closeted through much of the story.  There are many sex scenes, and while they are not described in detail, many of them involve premarital sex or adultery.

While not the best book ever, Rich Boy manages to teach the reader something about pop culture during the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s decades.  It develops interesting characters that have major flaws.  It uses these flaws in the storyline and advances Robert’s life.  There are times when the story is a bit slow, but most of the time the book kept the reader’s attention.  It’s definitely a good read.  At over 500 pages, though, it is not a quick, easy read.  This book is perfect to read while snowed in some weekend or while needing to pass some time.  The reader will be highly engrossed and entertained.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Mystery, Sci-Fi

Publisher: Putnam Adult

Publication Dates: November 2010

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

Eve Dallas is back. Well, technically, she’s on a vacation. After her last investigation and subsequent close call, she and Roarke decided that they might want to get away from the Big Apple for a little while. So this book opens with Eve Dallas, hard core detective of the future, lying in a bed in Ireland wondering if roosters crow every day, if cows are dangerous walking too close to the house and, most of all, if this is what it’s really like to have a family. They’re visiting Roarke’s family and though it’s awkward at times, it’s still a generally comfortable visit.

When she arrives back in New York (after her vacation and helping with a murder investigation in Ireland…after all crime doesn’t take a vacation because she does) she’s greeted with an unusual murder. A man has been murdered, seemingly without any reason, by a crossbow. Being 2060, crossbows are even more rare than they currently are in 2010. So when another murder pops up with a leather whip and later, a harpoon, she knows she’s got a tough one on her hands. It’s especially touchy when the connections between the cases lead back to high society and a lot of money. Not a lot of money like Roarke has. His money is new. This is old money. The kind that has been in the family for generations and that also allows people to feel like they are untouchable. As you can imagine, this sets Eve on the case with even more determination.

J.D. Robb’s thirty plus books into this series now and she shows no signs of slowing down. With fascinating crimes, witty dialogue and some of the most interesting scenarios I’ve ever read in a mystery series, this book is once again, a delight.

I had the joy of reading this book while I was on a business trip. Twenty hours on planes in less than two days gives someone a lot of reading time. I finished the book and even though my bag was full of more books that I needed to review, I didn’t want to move on. I just wanted to savor the fact that for a little while, I’d gotten to visit Eve Dallas and her universe again. I love the romance between Roarke and Dallas. It’s hot, romantic, sweet and realistic. They argue. They disagree. But they always have each other’s backs and they always care about each other more than you might imagine at first glance.

This book had some dialogue and the nature of the crime might cause some people to be uncomfortable. There were sexual acts described in the book, but once again, Robb handles them with grace and style. They’re details. Not gory or passionate, though they might rattle you. They add to the case, the mystery and the characters. When Dallas can take a statement about a wife who has had to deal with a variety of things that most would consider deviant and she doesn’t even blink, you know she’s seen it all. But in the same breath, she can reach out, touch that wife and urge her to safety in the most comfortable way possible.

Once again, I was left wanting more and wondering when I would get to experience the next book. Thankfully, the ARC for the next release, Treachery in Death, was waiting for me when I got home.  I’m just sorry you have to wait for it. But from my experience with everything J.D. Robb, the wait is definitely worth it.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Humor, Fantasy

Publisher: NAL Trade

Publication Dates: November 2010

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

If the Fates were real and not just myth, what would they be like? Would they have nicknames like Dennis or Fabio? Would they walk around in all red sleazy outfits or would they quietly help and assist their humans along the appropriate path?

When Fabio, (or Fate) becomes fed up with his job of watching humans make miserable life choices and starts to become jealous of Destiny, what should he do? He considers applying to Jerry (God) for another job, but getting that to happen is tough. So he presses on and keeps trying his best to move life ahead without affecting the humans.

And then there’s Sara. The beautiful woman with a great laugh that makes everyone around her take pause and smile before heading back to their incredibly mundane lives. What is it about Sara that has everyone paying such close attention to her? More importantly, why is Fabio running into her all over the city? New York City at that. It’s unusual to run into the same person twice in a year let alone several times over a matter of weeks. And then it hits him. Fate has fallen in love with a human. DISASTER ALERT!  Even Karma can’t figure a way of this one. And trust me. Fate’s asked.

S.G. Browne takes a comedic look at heavy topics of destiny, death, Karma and religion in this book. He gives them a light spin and allows you to laugh at things that most people spend their lives trying to puzzle. There are moments when you can’t help but laugh out loud. (Karma as a loud American tourist being obnoxious in a restaurant and ‘zapping’ people with a point of his finger is one example. Or Dennis, the relatively quiet and generally easy to get along with guy that is really Death.)

Be warned. There are moments that will likely offend. For example, God being referred to as Jerry (a short version of Jehovah) and a continuing commentary of the ‘real’ stories behind the tales we know in the Bible will probably set a lot of readers on edge.  I had a hard time with it and I consider myself relatively open minded, so it’s definitely not a book for all readers.  I wish he’d stuck with the Fates and the Greek Gods and stayed away from religions currently practiced, but then it probably wouldn’t have been the same book and it would definitely not have shared Browne’s feelings on the world.

If you’re passionate about your faith, this isn’t the book for you. Then again, if you’re passionate about your faith, you’ve probably already met at least one or two of these characters personally and have no need for a book to tell you more – even if it is funny.

If you’re looking for a light read and you don’t have any ties to religion or feel deeply passionate about the way the world should be, you will probably like this book and may even want to add it to your Christmas list.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Mystery, Suspense

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Publication Date:  November 2010

Reviewed by Jen Roman

Alex Cross returns from his latest crime-fighting adventure to settle down and ask Bree Stone to marry him.  Of course, just as they begin to plan the wedding, a new murderer arrives on the scene.  This one is a sure-shot sniper, who hunts down the “fox in the henhouse” as a vigilante.  He leaves little clues for Alex to find him, but he still stays elusive and hard to track down.  In the meantime, there is a copycat sniper and the return of Kyle Craig, Alex’s mentor-turned-arch nemesis.  Using a very sophisticated disguise, Kyle manages to slink around Alex’s home and work areas undetected, until he creates a showdown with Alex.  As always, Alex manages to do some pro bono counseling on the side, providing a slight side plot.

James Patterson is a prolific writer, but unfortunately, it’s just too much.  He needs to take his time to come up with solid storylines that truly are as intriguing as the book jacket would lead one to believe.  In this case there are THREE “bad guys,” and there’s no real focus on any one of them.   Compared to his earlier books, Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider, Patterson seems to just throw things together and hope it works.  There’s none of the in-depth psychology that makes the first books in the Alex Cross series so good, and the villains aren’t as evil as they used to be.  Alex seems to have adopted a god-like persona somewhere along the way, and he thinks he can save the world.  In his quest to do so, his family pays the price.  He claims to be a loving family man, but he puts “the job,” as he calls it, ahead of the ones he loves.  All in all, it’s apparent from reading Cross Fire that Patterson is just writing to put books on the shelves at bookstores.

Cross Fire is not the most violent of Patterson’s books, but it does contain some grisly scenes.  The murders are described in detail, as are injuries that he sustains while searching for the killers.  Of course, there is some serious profanity as well.  Alex has settled down with Bree so he is not as promiscuous as he once was, but there are still some sex scenes (out of wedlock) one must consider.  This definitely does not qualify as a “squeaky-clean, nice” book, but for those tolerant of sex, murder, and foul language, it would be fine.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Chick Lit

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Publication Date:  November 2010

Reviewed by Jen Roman

Webster lives in a small town in Vermont, and after high school, he decides to be an EMT.  One of his first calls involves a DUI in which a woman is thrown from the vehicle.  He instantly feels a connection to Sheila, who responds to his romantic advances.  She is an alcoholic running from an alcoholic, violent lover, and Webster’s lifestyle suits her just fine.  He is the kind of guy who can take care of her.  Within two months, she discovers she is pregnant, and they decide to marry.  The next couple of years show them struggling with their fledgling marriage, their young daughter Rowan, his hectic job schedule, and her drinking problem.  Even while pregnant with Rowan, Sheila drinks.  She endangers her daughter by drinking and driving with the baby in the car, not even completely buckled into her car seat.  They end up in the hospital, and Webster hears through his work grapevine that the police will be arresting Sheila when she is released from the hospital.  Webster realizes this is the straw that breaks the camel’s back and goes to the hospital to have her released an hour early.  He gives her the keys to his car and some money and tells her to drive away and to never come back.

Fifteen years later, Rowan is a precocious young lady living with her father, but she is starting to have behavior issues.  She has been caught drinking on several occasions and her grades are slipping.  She back talks her father and acts irresponsibly.  Finally, she is involved in a serious accident, and Webster believes that the only thing to do is to contact Sheila.  From here, the family gets a shot at healing.

Anita Shreve is a good, solid writer who has delighted her audiences for years with stories of touching characters and complex situations.  Rescue also provides interesting characters and a complex storyline, but the story itself doesn’t seem to move.  A great deal of the book is taken up in background history, which is always important to a story.  However, once Rowan is injured near the end of the story, everything just ends rather abruptly.  The family gets together, talks, and that’s it.  While the back story is important, there is very little focus placed on the current story.  Maybe it should be explored some more.  Rowan is at a transitional stage in her life and it would be interesting to see how she reacts to her mother being in her life after so long.

In general there is not much offensive in this book.  There are a few swear words and inappropriate comments.  There is some violence in the form of accident scenes.  Shreve describes them well, so there is the mention of blood and guts.  There is premarital sex and teen drinking, and in one scene the teen drinking leads to a serious accident.  It could be scary to some but it might be a good lesson to others.

While this is not Shreve’s best work, it nonetheless is a worthwhile read that provides entertainment and a look into how someone’s life decisions affect so many others.  It’s not the novel of the century, but it is definitely worth the time to read it.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Children’s

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Publication Date: May 2010

Reviewed by Jaci Miller

New to the neighborhood, eleven-year-old Georgie is bored to tears in the sweltering Indiana summer of 1952. Polio has struck the nation, creating fear of the dreaded disease. This fear prevents Georgie from swimming, going to movie theaters and doing other activities where the disease could be passed. Yet Georgie maintains an odd fascination with the disease, following death counts in the newspaper and reading up on polio symptoms. Ironically, the next-door neighbor, teenage Phyllis, suffers the effects of polio and now lies in an iron lung. As Georgie and her awkward older brother Emmett draw closer to the charismatic Phyllis, Emmett starts to fall for her. But Georgie begins to have doubts—something is very wrong with this relationship.

Chasing Orion by Newbery Honor-winner Kathryn Lasky is strongly written and the voice of Georgie is entirely natural. The confusion and relative innocence of this character read honestly as does the portrayal of the terror inflicted by polio in the 50s.

This book is a sophisticated read, much more appropriate for YA readers than middle grade. Since children tend to want to read about older characters, an 11-year-old protagonist creates a problem in this book: older readers capable of considering the difficult themes in this book may not want to read about someone younger, although this book would be worth their time. Younger readers interested in the problems of a preteen could become bored with the pacing and literary feel of this book.

Adults and teens will value this book for its subtle examination of trust, deception and manipulation. The discussions about polio are also informative and will engender interest in learning more about the history of the disease.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Political Thriller, Suspense

Publisher: Grand Central

Publication Date: November 2010

Reviewed by Josh Olds

David Baldacci is a perennial New York Times bestselling author. The Camel Club is the series most beloved by his fans. Now after taking a year away from Camel Club stories, Baldacci has heard his fans clamoring for the return of Oliver Stone and penned a story that puts Stone the Club to their greatest test yet – dealing with Hell’s Corner.

It all begins on a peaceful night that’s way too peaceful. Stone is strolling through Lafayette Park, across from the White House. Something just seems wrong. Gunfire rattles and is quickly followed by an exploding bomb. And then chaos descends. Ostensibly, the attack was meant to take out both the American President and the British PM, and although it failed, everyone wants in on the action of finding out who was behind it.

Oliver Stone gets back in action officially and teams up with MI-6 agent Mary Chapman to get to the bottom of it all. But in this high-stakes game of chess, their opponents are always five steps ahead. Misdirection follows misdirection and people are dying in the wake. Oliver Stone and the Camel Club find themselves in the middle of their most dangerous and difficult journey yet.

In typical fashion, David Baldacci has weaved intense action scenes with great plotting to create a story that keeps you turning pages. In many novels, an abundance of unexpected twists and turns can leave the reader mentally struggling to catch up; but if the reader expects the twist then the suspense fades. Baldacci manages to make the twists completely unexpected but completely plausible. More than once I found myself going, “What the…how the…OF COURSE!”

Hell’s Corner is a rush from beginning to end. Well-written and with a plot that never lets up, it takes you through the red tape involved when the FBI, metro police, NIC, Secret Service, and a host of other agencies are all on the scene. With all the people involved, nothing is as it seems and Stone can trust no one except those he knows to be his friends. And it all comes down to a last-second harrowing conclusion.

Hell’s Corner is sure to enthrall devoted Camel Club fans and new readers alike. There are enough references to the past to sufficiently tie things in, but Baldacci does it well so that new readers won’t feel left out of the loop. Fans have long said that the Camel Club represents Baldacci’s best and – at least until next book – Hell’s Corner proves that.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Literary

Publisher: Riverhead

Released: August 2010

Reviewed by Jonathan Schindler

The nameless narrator at the center of Joe Pernice’s It Feels So Good When I Stop is at a crossroads. Having skipped out on his day-old marriage to Jocelyn, he takes up residence with his ex-brother-in-law James in a small Cape Cod town while he rethinks his life. What should he do? Who should he be now that he has abandoned his bride, the one ambition he had pursued for so long?

The narrator has no job, no car, and no prospects when he arrives at James’s house, and things at first don’t look like they’ll improve. But when James asks him to babysit his son, Roy, the narrator begins to awaken to the world around him. Through Roy, he meets Marie, another person struggling to make sense of her life in Cape Cod. Will the narrator continue in his aimless meandering, or will he wake up to what is important in his life?

The title of It Feels So Good When I Stop is taken from an old joke. A man hits himself repeatedly in the head with a hammer. When someone asks him why he’s doing this, he responds, “It feels so good when I stop.” The reader is left with the sense that the narrator of this novel must be like the man in the joke. Why does he run away from every semblance of success? Why does he engage in many meaningless sexual encounters? Why does he quit school to be in a going-nowhere indie band, and why does he lose interest in the band when they are on the brink of being signed to a record label? Why does he distance himself from every person he meets? Why does he walk out on the girl he once loved so much right when he should love her the most? Perhaps the book’s title is instructive here.

It Feels So Good When I Stop is told in two streams—the present at James’s house and the past with Jocelyn—and it’s not always clear at first which stream the author is following. This is an effective storytelling method as sometimes the similarities between the narrator’s past and present comment on each other, giving a fuller picture of the narrator.

Pernice is without question a talented writer. His particular gift is in description, finding the perfect metaphor to describe whatever he encounters. There are a number of descriptions in the book that are laugh-out-loud funny, and his narrator for It Feels So Good When I Stop is on key the whole book through; he is believable if not exactly likeable. That being said, sensitive readers should be advised: It Feels So Good When I Stop is a string of obscenities from start to finish, a strong four-letter word appearing in almost every sentence. There are also a number of sexual encounters graphically described. While the majority of the language and the content are fitting for the character of the narrator, it’s difficult not to consider some of this gratuitous. After several pages, it was no longer atmospheric—it was grating.

I’m not quite sure what to make of It Feels So Good When I Stop. On the one hand, it feels like it’s supposed to be a nostalgic catalogue of slackerdom; on the other hand, it’s much too depressing to be nostalgic. We see the narrator’s slacker exploits, and at the start of the book, we suspect he will eventually do something with his life, redeeming his unproductive past and making it worthy of fond remembrance. (This is heavily hinted at in the way he cares for Roy.) However, the book closes without resolution but with a hint that the narrator remains static. His incorrigibility is not endearing; it’s sad. The pain he feels is real and empathy for him is adequately passed on to the reader, but the reader still wants to shake him by the lapels and tell him what’s what.

Because of these competing tones in the book, It Feels So Good When I Stop ultimately feels as aimless as its narrator. As a result, despite the book’s fine writing and characterization, its title accurately described my feeling when I turned the final page: it felt so good when I stopped.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Fantasy/Historical

Publisher: Touchstone Books

Publication Date: September 2010

Reviewed by Anne Barnhill

In Dark Moon of Avalon, the second book of the trilogy, Twilight of Avalon, Anna Elliott continues the tale of Tristan and Isolde, the ill-fated lovers of Arthurian legend.  The fields of Camelot have been mined by many writers throughout the centuries, from Mallory’s Morte D’Arthur to Tennyson’s Idylls of the King to White’s The Once and Future King to Bradley’s Mists of Avalon.  Elliott’s rendition pales when compared to these masters of the tale, both in characterization and writing elegance.  One more run through with a sharp eye to editing would improve the book immensely, dispensing with redundancies.  And while Elliott reinvents the traditional tale in an interesting way, the characters don’t seem particularly authentic–they seem, instead, interchangeable with other like books.

Perhaps the book gave me pause because I did not read the first book in the trilogy, also titled Twilight of Avalon.  As I began the novel, I was impressed with the writing in the Prologue where Morgan, grandmother of Isolde, prepares the reader for the story to follow.  Unfortunately, we don’t see more of Morgan (well, she is dead when the book begins) except in bits of memory when Isolde is struggling to save Britain from King March, her former husband from whom she has escaped.  I confess I was confused by all the names introduced at the very beginning, the complex political alliances and enmities, the sense that much had happened to which I was not privy.  Again, possibly a problem for a reader coming into the middle of the tale.

The story is told from both Isolde and Tristan’s point of view, though Isolde’s perspective bears the heavier load, which is unfortunate because Tristan’s voice is filled with self-deprecating humor and a charming romantic quality.  Elliott’s use of humor is natural and easy and enhances the book a great deal.

Rather than the usual tale where the lovers inadvertently drink a love potion that begins their passion, Elliott uses the true aphrodisiac of youngsters who bond early in life.  Isolde and Tristan grow up together, best friends.  Of course, as they mature, their friendship catches fire.  But there is more to the story than love.  Isolde is a healer and Seer, having traces of her grandmother’s magic.  She is part of the old world, the Druidic tradition.  Some of the characters have embraced the new Christian faith.  Elliott does a good job with this juxtaposition, respectful of both.

By the end of the book, I was at least invested in the love story and found that resolution satisfying.  Given the enormous popularity of Arthurian fantasies, I would rate this one a C+.

Review copy provided by publisher.